Traitors in the Service of the Lord: The Role of Church and Clergy in Appalachia’s Civil War Master Thesis in Partial Fulfillment of the degree of Master of History By: Sheilah Elwardani Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia December, 2018 Acknowledgments It is hard to list all of the people who supported me through this endeavor but I will attempt to give credit where credit is highly due. The Floyd County Historical Society truly took me under their collective wings and opened full access to the archives which supplied so many vital sources. Special thanks for the support of Rebecca Weeks, Gerald Via and Connie Mitchell. The invaluable information contained in the Stigleman collection was made readily available by the transcription made by Cindy Ryan who completed this huge task in record time, sending me completed letters daily. The support and sacrifice of my family is the only reason this work exists. Laura and Paul Grochowski, my sister and brother-in law, who provided support and childcare continuously, listened to my findings and provided much needed critical feedback. My children sacrificed countless hours with their mother so that I could bury myself in letters and diaries, they eagerly visited churches and graveyards, seeking people associated with this research. My children have since asked me to take them back to the dozens of graveyards where these men rest so that they can place flowers on their graves. Last but not least: the citizens of Floyd County, Virginia; past and present, who continue to make this place special, unique, quirky and deeply rooted to its incredible history. Floyd County is a place that has to be visited to be truly appreciated. This work is for you. It is time to lay the stigma of desertion to rest, it is time to acknowledge the men who faced death at home to save their families from starvation. There is no shame in men standing firmly by deeply held beliefs. 1 Table of Contents Abstract Violent Targeting of Clergy and Churches 3 Chapter 1 Ecclesiastical Involvement in the Guerrilla War 4 Chapter 2 Growing Ecclesiastical Division and Secession Dispute Political Violence 34 Chapter 3 War and Active Church Participation 68 Conclusion 104 Bibliography 110 2 Abstract: Violent Targeting of Clergy and Churches Studies of the guerrilla war in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains reveal repeated instances of violence and threats directed at the pastors of mountain churches. Instances of churches being burned, pastors and laymen beaten and at times murdered are sprinkled throughout the primary source materials. The question raised here is why were pastors and specific churches being targeted for violence? The church was the center of the life for secluded Appalachian communities, church leadership carried tremendous weight in influencing loyalties. Research focused solely on the Dunkard Church in Floyd County, Virginia revealed that amidst a particularly violent guerrilla war, (irregular combatants engaged in partisan violence against opposing loyalists), involving massive numbers of deserters and a highly determined home guard the Dunkard Church became actively involved in aiding deserters and Union loyalists. Dunkards were not the only church being targeted for violence, nearly all clergy and churches experienced direct, dangerous interactions with guerrillas. Every congregation held loyalty to either the Federal government or the Confederate government. Therefore, every individual and congregation was traitor to either the Federal or Confederate government. A parishioner’s belief system was a primary driving factor in the inclination of loyalties; applying belief system to the active aiding of either the northern or southern war effort made each person involved guilty of treason to the opposing government. The application of religious beliefs into loyalties and active involvement in the Floyd County, Virginia is the focus of this study. Floyd County experienced well above average rates of desertion, brutal guerrilla warfare and a definite shift toward Unionism late in the war. Clear patterns of congregational loyalties and church involvement can be found in the violent conditions the county experienced during the Civil War. 3 Chapter 1 Ecclesiastical Involvement in the Guerrilla War I am threatened, they may take my life: but I do not fear them; they can only kill my body.” -Elder John Kline June 1, 1864 Church of the Brethren pastor John Kline recorded the continuing threats against his life on June 1, 1864; two weeks later while riding home from having his horse shod he was shot and killed near his home in Winchester, Virginia. No arrests were made. Kline spent the entire war ministering to his flock both north and south of the Mason/Dixon line, and recently been imprisoned and beaten before being killed by Confederate sympathizers. Kline was a devout Brethren, he did not carry a weapon at any time, did not fight or condone the war in anyway. He was killed for suspected treason against the Confederate government.1 On September 8, 1863 respected Brethren pastor John Bowman was assassinated at his home near Blountville, Tennessee. A highly regarded, pacifist pastor, Bowman had not participated in the war, did not carry a weapon. He was killed by Confederate sympathizers, no arrests were made.2 In Floyd County, Virginia Bowman’s cousin, Elder Christian Bowman led his sons and congregants in increasingly open opposition to the Confederate government. 1 John Kline and Benjamin Funk, Life and Labors of Elder John Kline the Martyr Missionary: Collated from His Diary (Elgin: Brethren Publish House, 1900), Kindle Edition, 7901. Daniel Long Miller, Some Who Led Or Fathers in the Church of the Brethren Who Have Passed Over (Elgin: Brethren Publishing House, 1912), 44-47. Local testimony following Elder Kline’s death note he was found with multiple bullet holes, his valuables were on his person and local Confederate irregulars, (guerrilla’s) claimed he was killed for his devote stance against slavery and secession and active treason against the Confederate government. 2 Daniel Long Miller, Some Who Led Or Fathers in the Church of the Brethren Who Have Passed Over (Elgin: Brethren Publishing House, 1912), 87-89. Bowman’s Unionist sympathies had been widely known in the region. His family claimed he was assassinated by irregular Confederate sympathizers in retaliation for Union support. 4 Christian Bowman survived the war, one son survived threats and persecution to take a seat in county government near the war’s end and the youngest son, Christian Bowman Jr. died of diphtheria during the devastating epidemic of 1862-63. In Floyd County, Virginia the Church of the Brethren came under particularly brutal attack. Threats to “burn their churches and hang their ministers” became the anthem of pro- Confederate sympathizers as the number of deserters hiding in the county grew and wartime suffering triggered renewed Unionism. The Dunkers of Floyd, under threat of violence, continued to maintain their pacifist, albeit not neutral course. Some were attacked and beaten, some robbed and all lived under continuous threat. The crime was treason. The Dunkards of Floyd County had something in common with pastors’ John Bowman and John Kline, they provided support to Unionist and deserters. John Kline provided medical aid to deserters and escaped Union prisoners, healing them then helping them cross Union lines. John Bowman was accused of giving Unionist speeches and was accused of aiding in communications and hiding of unionists. In Floyd, David and John Weddle, Christian Bowman and son Peter Bowman supported by multiple congregations of Dunkards, fed more than 150 deserters per week in the hollows of the Burks Fork area of Floyd and hundreds more in the Little River District. The pacifist Dunkards were involved in the war, no gun required. The Civil War, as it developed in the Appalachian Mountains, affected every household with depravation, hunger, violence and death in countless forms. Mountain culture had developed for over a hundred years to place value in localism over nationalism, local church family and teaching over denominational doctrine, spirituality driven religion over traditionally trained clergy. Slavery was alive, well and growing in the mountains, expanding with the 5 development of industry, mining and cash crop agriculture.3 The mountain population, divided by economics and belief concerning the role of the church in determining the morality of slavery; loyalty to either the Confederacy or the Union in second standing to family and local community, found itself splintered by the onset of hostilities. The eruption of partisan violence in the form of guerrilla warfare soon led to the targeting of some clergy members and, at times, entire congregations by units operating independently in the mountains. It is the purpose of this thesis to explore the connection between local churches and the guerrilla war in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The churches, and preachers, in mountain communities were targeted not only when they displayed partisan loyalties backed by active support for either the Union or the Confederate government but Unionist speech, encouraging of deserters and particularly rejoicing at the deaths of Confederate soldiers on the battlefield led to both legal and backwoods retribution. Pastors and active laypeople found themselves targeted when they were suspected of supplying material or informational support to opposing guerrilla groups. In a region where church was the center of community and localism a way of life, organization of food, communications, and at times, weapons could be achieved through the congregational network long established. Pastors, particularly non-pacifist pastors such as Methodists, occasionally took up arms in self-defense or counter guerrilla action but violence and executions were more often directed at pastors and laypeople who carried no arms. Pastors risked death to provide humanitarian aid to deserters and Federal prisoners, support the Union, (later in the war as unionist sentiments increased pro-Confederacy congregations faced censure), and for some, support the fight against slavery and secession.